There are a lot of
things that can be done to protect your interiors. And I must admit, that
I try to use these tricks to protect fabrics, furniture, etc… I try to
upholster my larger pieces in outdoor fabric to protect from
fading. I used a white linen on the back of these floral pillows which
prevented fading on the back. And I also have been known to finish
furniture with Marine Varnish to prevent fading if placed in a sunny spot.
But one thing that I had never thought of before was window film.

We have our windows
tinted on our cars to help with the hot summer sun & to help with fading,
so I was honestly surprised I had never considered the same for our home.
Besides helping to save our
furniture & fabrics, the window film is also beneficial in protecting your
floors, area rugs & artwork.

Recently, LLumar® Film came out to our home & we discussed the
benefits of window film. I was surprised at the breadth of options
available. They asked what our issues or concerns were & I replied
with our top two:

1 // Heat. We
live in HotLanta (no one really calls it that here, but it is true!)
Regardless of the AC running & the ceiling fans blowing it gets
ridiculously hot, especially if the blinds are open. I hate leaving them
closed all of the time working from home, but the heat just becomes too much to
handle so they stay closed 90% of the time.

2 // Color clarity. Being
a designer (& photographing our home regularly) the last thing I wanted to
do was change the color coming in through the windows. The natural light
is amazing! I just didn’t want to make the home darker or have any other color
tones coming into the house.

The installer walked
me through the options available & I was quickly relieved that the range is
much wider than those available in the Car Tint arena. These residential
tints are thinner & provide benefits starting from the clearest of films.

Here is our Kitchen
Window we first looked at during full sun. There is a window screen on
the lower half of the window, so that breaks the glare a little bit, but not
much.

And here is the window with two different film samples taped on the window. I was instantly surprised by the glare reduction & clarity provided.

The option on the left was a darker film & a little too dark for our space, but the option on the right provided great coloration & clarity, with the added benefits of UV Ray protection & heat control.

The installation process could not have been quicker either. This is the other window in our Kitchen before the film. Again, I took these during full sun, so there is a lot of glare.

The professional installers apply the film to the interior of the window using a simple solution of distilled water & a little baby shampoo. They sprayed down the window & the film & used a squeegee to remove any air bubbles. A few minutes later, this was the result… again with full sun & the same camera settings/angle.

I have told friends that I feel like we put a great pair of polarized sunglasses on our home. The views are crystal clear & the colors appear a little brighter. We decided to use the Vista by LLumar Ceramic Series 45 for our windows on this side of the house as the main concerns here were heat & color clarity. Basically the higher the number, 45/55/65 the lighter the film. The main benefits are the blocking of 99% damaging UV Rays as well as a 45% heat reduction entering our windows. Which is huge! After being installed nearly two weeks ago, the Kitchen blinds have remained open & this room is so much cooler.